ABSTRACT
A number of studies have reported the synthesis of epoxy nanocomposites after the incorporation of layered silicates, and enhanced properties have been ascribed to higher-aspect ratio filler platelets leading to much higher polymer filler interfacial contacts. Epoxide resins are used in a large number of fields, including in surface coatings, in adhesives, in potting and encapsulation of electronic components, in tooling, for laminates in flooring, and to a small extent in molding powders and in road surfacing. The use of tetraeth-ylenepentamine with the highest number of crosslinking sites led to higher crosslinking density, which also resulted in the least oxygen permeation through the polymer films. The fillers were modified with different surface modifications to study the effect of resulting interactions of the polymer and filler on the microstructure development and consequently the oxygen permeation performance of nanocomposites.
